


found tonight

by blasphemyincarnate



Series: apotelesma [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Astronomy Tower, Friendship, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Slash, bjt like not in an emo way lmao, boys can be soft and lonely and fall in love too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23011669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blasphemyincarnate/pseuds/blasphemyincarnate
Summary: even when the dark comes crashing through,when you need a friend to carry you,when you're broken on the ground,you will be found.so let the sun come streaming in,'cause you'll reach up and you'll rise again.if you only look aroundyou will be foundThere are two constants in Draco Malfoy’s life. First- the stars he was named for. Always there, always comforting, always out of reach. The second is Harry Potter.“Draco Malfoy knows every star in the sky. Each twinkling pinprick of light, each sewing needle mark. The constellations he knows better than himself- but, well. That’s not necessarily saying much.”
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, Pre Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Series: apotelesma [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1653799
Comments: 5
Kudos: 44





	found tonight

**Author's Note:**

> title and part of the summary from Lin Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt’s _Found/Tonight_  
>  it’s a good song, worth checking out even if you’re not into musicals

_darling, i love you_

_i love you_

_i love you._

Draco Malfoy knows every star in the sky. Each twinkling pinprick of light, each sewing needle mark. The constellations he knows better than himself- but, well. That’s not necessarily saying much. 

The stars have meant beautiful things over the years. (Private moments with his mother under the night sky. A black dog walking him back to the manor after getting lost in the woods.) They’ve meant terrible things. (The last thing Dumbledore ever saw. His own fucked-up identity, carved into the sky for any old nobody to see.)

But at least they’ve always been there.

The dozens upon dozens of people who _left_ , for greener pastures or fanatic Dark Lords, can’t even compare to some long-dead spheres of hydrogen and helium a million miles away. It’s painful to think of, but it gets a little better everyday. 

It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.

The astronomy tower is always quiet, but there’s a heavy sort of silence in the dark in-between hours. After the midnight classes are gone, but before any reasonable time to be awake. Draco loved to go there then, to convene with his stars and get away from the castle. 

Sometimes his thoughts get heavy and hard to handle. This is the only time he ever looks down, but then he’ll see Dumbledore’s falling body again and the man’s ancient eyes, and he’ll lift his eyes to the same stars his old headmaster saw.

There’s not usually anyone else there. Draco didn’t even really know that other kids snuck out at night, though he probably should’ve realized. How many times did he sneak out when he was just a kid? Back before things got serious. Before he killed a man.

He brought his homework, like always, though it didn’t usually get done. Mostly it ended up abandoned in his bag by the door, while Draco dangled his feet off the ledge and wished he’d inherited wings from his Latin namesake. To fly among the stars, through the clouds, free from petty human issues. 

It was all Draco had planned for that night - all thoughts of actually getting some sleep for once had been abandoned after the catastrophe Potions class was - but something else drew his attention as soon as he stepped through the door. Someone else.

Someone who had never failed to draw his attention - or anyone’s, for that matter. Draco couldn’t think of a time he hadn’t been intensely aware of the other boy. He was constant. Like the stars.

Harry Potter was lying on the balcony, robe tossed to the side. His hands were linked behind his head, and his sleeves were rolled up. The moonlight washed out his dark skin. The stars dyed his hair silver.

Draco contemplated just turning around and leaving. It was the easy option, really. And hadn’t he always been one to take the easy route?

But the other option was to go back to the dorms. The small dormroom with no windows and two roommates, one that snored and one that tossed and turned. Tangled up in sheets, suffocating in the musty air. Neither choice was appealing.

Either way, it didn’t matter, because Harry was already sitting up to look at him with a calm, vaguely curious expression. “Malfoy,” he said, tone matching his face. His fingers twitched slightly towards the discarded robe.

That was all he said. Malfoy. Draco wondered when it stopped feeling like a name and more like a curse.

"Potter,” he muttered, waving half-heartedly. “Hello. I won’t bother you. Balcony’s plenty big enough for the both of us.” He dropped his bag at the teacher’s desk, minding the few scattered papers. He walked past Harry’s curious gaze, hands shoved into his robes. Back straight. Just like he’d always been taught.

Draco shoved his legs between the bars of the balcony, idly wondering what would happen if he kicked his shoes off. There was no one below, probably. He could if he really wanted to. Nothing would happen.

Well, he’d lose a pair of shoes.

Draco almost kicked a shoe off, then decided against it. He made an aborted movement to do it again. _Merlin, it’s just a pair of shoes. Why so hesitant over something so stupid? Do it or don’t, it’s that fucking easy. Why deliberate? Why care? They’re shoes,_ Malfoy _, no one gives a shit._

“Do you come up here a lot?” A voice asked, startling Draco out of his thoughts. He twisted around to see Harry on his back again, turned so his head was closer to Draco.

“Yeah, I guess,” Draco said after a moment. “Do you?”

Harry hummed distractedly. “No. Handful of times. I usually spend nights at the quidditch pitch. Some second year was out there today, though.”

“Makes sense. Star players, and all that.”

“You don’t go there.” 

Draco looked back at him again. “I’m not a star player. I never was. I’m not you, not even in the little things.”

Harry hummed again. “Yeah, I get that.”

There was another long pause, which Draco was more than happy to let hang. He counted the stars in the sky. Orion stretched over the sky, with the Sirius star inside. His lips quirked at the thought of his cousins, determinedly not thinking about the night Sirius died.

Harry didn’t seem to agree about letting the silence stay. 

“I heard what happened today,” he started.

Draco made a noncommital noise. “Did you.”

“I’m sorry it did.”

Draco shrugged and toed the heel of his shoe off. “Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”

“You don’t deserve it.”

“I think the blood on my hands begs to differ.”

There was a moment of silence where Draco thought Harry might’ve actually dropped the topic, then came the sounds of clothes rustling against stone.

Harry Potter sat down next to him, hands folded and legs crossed. Draco pushed his shoe back on. “It doesn’t make you a bad person, necessarily. Heroes die bloody all the time.” 

Draco spared him a glance before looking back into the sky. He could see the twins rising in the distance.

“Really,” Harry pressed. “Everyone’s done a few bad things.”

Draco had to laugh at that, ducking his head and shaking it. “Potter,” he said after he was done, still somewhat giggling. “Potter, I have a tattoo we call the _Dark Mark_ . I think I’m past a _few_ bad things.”

Harry went silent at that. “Well,” he said after a moment. “I still don’t think you’re a bad person.” Draco resolutely didn’t notice how he didn’t say _good person_. 

“It doesn’t matter what you think.”

It was Harry’s turn to laugh at that. “My word is law.” If he sounded bitter, Draco pretended not to notice. But he did sneak a glance out of the corner of his eye, to see Harry staring out across the Forbidden Forest.

“Don’t go ‘round defending me, now. Wouldn’t want to spoil your reputation like that.”

Harry nodded. “Still,” he added. “I’m going to say something to Edwards. I don’t know what it is. But I’m going to.”

 _Edwards_. The subject of Draco’s torment for the day. It was hard to focus on Potions when someone was consistently hurling insults at you- harder still, when the teacher backed them up. It came to a head in a confrontation after class, and Draco had a lovely bruise on his hip to show for it. 

Not that he could really blame either of them for it.

The thought that _Harry Potter_ , Draco’s archenemy for seven years, was now trying to do this was almost terrifying. But it was wonderfully freeing at the same time, the realization that at least someone was behind him. Someone believed in him.

Draco closed his eyes, feeling the all too familiar sensation of tears pricking at the corners. He used to barely be able to cry at all, but returning to Hogwarts had blown that all away. “Thanks,” he mumbled, hoping his voice didn’t give him away.

Harry put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey,” he said gently. “It’s what friends are for.”

Draco stared at him, uncomfortably aware of the hand and Harry’s proximity. “Are we friends?”

Harry smiled a little, awkwardly. “We could be.”

Draco hesitated, then nodded with a small smile. “Yeah. Guess we could be.” He leaned into the touch.

**Author's Note:**

> for the record, majority of the stars we see actually are alive :))
> 
> [chat with me on tumblr](https://insert-cleverurl.tumblr.com)
> 
> and remember- comments and kudos make the world go round :)  
> (mostly comments tho)  
> (i need validation)  
> (don't @ me)


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